Tunnel Vision

Saksham Bambha is a Secondary 4 student who underwent an internship at Science Centre Singapore (SCS) in 2016. He has written this blog post during his internship at SCS.

Is what you see through the human eye all that exists in the universe? Have you ever felt that nature is boring? Well, let ‘Mysteries of the Unseen World’, a film produced by National Geographic in 2013, completely change your perspective of the world.

Stunning visuals, slow motion footage, time-lapses and every sort of camera trickery you can imagine all come together in this documentary. They deliver a narrative about the intricacies of life that we humans fail to acknowledge every day. Watch the trailer here:

This remarkable film began screening at the Omni Theatre in June of this year. The unique screening style provides an immersive perspective of the microscopic, excruciatingly slow and blazing fast worlds. It really gets you thinking about the small details of nature that you miss out on in the rushed and extremely quick-paced society of the 21st century.

Some personal thoughts

The more ‘scientific’ aspect of what we fail to recognize in our day-to-day lives was obvious from the documentary. Humans quite understandably cannot visualize a bullet fired from the barrel of a gun, or the growth of a flower’s petals, or the individual atoms that make up all matter in the universe.

Reflecting on the words of the narrator, however, made me notice the parallel that could be drawn between the more ‘explicit’ details of nature that everyone enjoys equally, and the more personalized nuances of our own lives that we sometimes ignore in our pursuit of success.

Society has begun to lose interest in the idea of gaining new experiences. Instead, many are moving in a direction where we feel more tangible benefits lay in store for us. Physical things that we can see, feel and enjoy. Good grades, a stable income, the lot. Profit-driven mindsets have become second nature – survival of the fittest, they say.

For those of us who chase after these ‘tangible benefits’, our vision becomes increasingly tunneled. The only thing that remains in focus, is that specific end goal – everything in the periphery begins to morph into monotonous, monochromatic lines representing day-to-day tasks that we deem as irrelevant.

We eventually turn into beings no different from any task-programmed, well-oiled machine, deriving no satisfaction from these day-to-day tasks.

A solution to the problem

In a couple of hundred words, it seems as if I’ve only been criticizing the increasingly commercialized human nature – as if there’s no turning back at this point. Fortunately, there’s a rather simple solution to the issue.

Unlike the ultrafast, ultraslow and ultrasmall worlds that we wish to delve deeper into in the name of science, there’s no need for the invention of a fancy machine or camera to assist us. All we have to do is slow down every once in awhile. It might sound cheesy and overused, but stopping and smelling the roses is the most effective way to gain some relief.

The film’s parting words are: “Knowing there’s much more around us that we can see forever changes our understanding of the world. [Who knows] what new wonders will transform our lives?” – remember that question I asked you at the beginning? These words provide the framework upon which every individual has to build his or her own story.

Whatever small task or activity you have inadvertently ignored in your day-to-day timetable – the “new wonders” – can and WILL change the manner in which you live life. It’s only a matter of whether you make the effort to recognize their potential impact on you. It’s time to prevent ourselves from being always caught up in the hustle and bustle of life. It’s time to take a break from the rigidity and seemingly never-ending nature of tasks associated with the 21st century lifestyle. It’s time to start enjoying the small, relaxing and more delicate things in the world, if we wish to preserve our humanity.

Find out much more about ‘Mystery of the Unseen World’ online! Get detailed information and a short synopsis of the documentary at the Omni Theatre website:

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ABOUT

The authors of Stir-fried Science are all associated with the Science Centre Singapore in one way or another. They are either working there, gave a talk or workshop, or are somehow involved in the centre’s activities.

The authors’ posts are not edited nor approved by the centre, so any views and opinions expressed here are entirely those of the authors and do not represent the centre’s official policy.